Friday, March 30, 2012

You know that word I hate "cancer" well it's back and I hate it even more now! My mom has to go back into the hospital to have another surgery. Somehow a 2 mm cancer spot was either missed, grew or by accident (pretty scary if that's what really happened!) placed in mom's lymph nodes under her arm. She's been doing fantastic since the mastectomy last month, no issues with her arm and now this ... something doesn't add up which is the frustrating part. When doctors tell you that a mistake during her original biopsy could be the cause of this how are you suppose to react to that! Anger, frustration and sadness. I pray mom's recovery will be just as good as with her first surgery. This surgery is physically not as complicated but I tell you mentally this one is doing a number on her as well as on the rest of the family. She's mostly worried about the chemo and radiation that they said will have to follow which I totally understand as we all watched dad having to go through that process last year about this time.

So I'm off to go see mom, to be with her and help her get through this crap. Trip number four to Belgium in less then a year all cancer related trips which sucks. I was hoping my next trip would be for a happy occasion not another anxiety trip full of worry. I'm usually a very happy optimistic person I would say and my glass is always half full ... not half empty but I must say ... these days it's starting to look more empty every day. I want to say thanks to my hubby and daughter for supporting me through this year, they are not joining me on this trip but are always there for me when I reach for the phone, my Ipad or e-mail. Thank God for technology! Mom does enjoy it when I facetime with them while I'm with her.

I'm hoping to be back on April 22nd so for the time being I have closed both my BitsOfFiber and PurplePlatypus shops. If all goes as planned I will re-open them on the 23rd of April. Thanks for understanding.

Feels good to be home again. Mom is doing pretty good after her mastectomy. Wound is healing nicely. Only thing that sucks right now is that she might still need chemo and radiation. Her own surgeon didn't think it was necessary but his boss and the board of doctors that reviews the cancer cases happening in that hospital really think she should. I'm just worried because of how underweight she is. If she has any bad reaction towards the chemo, which I know doesn't always happen, she really can not afford to loose more weight. But, we'll see what next week will bring. That's when the decision will be made after they do another scan tomorrow.

So, I'm back in the US for now and I'm praying I don't need to make another trip to Belgium in the near future because that would mean more bad news. I'm really ready for some good news this time.

While visiting with mom I was busy making some more baby items for my shop. I just need to put the finishing touches on just about all of the things I made, take photos and then I'll be listing them.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

My mom had her mastectomy and is doing great. No chemo or radiation and hoping for the best. She will need to gain some weight to get her strength back. I must say I hope I will have her courage and willpower at 77!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I never use the word hate, it's just a bad word ... disliking would be a better word to use but today I am using it. Using it to let you know I "hate cancer"! My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 yrs ago. She finally lost her battle last year in April. My husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer 3 yrs ago. He underwent a tricky surgery to remove a 10 lb tumor (we named Chucky). Thank God he's doing fine now. Then dad got diagnosed with lung cancer and also passed away last year in June. Now mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The good news is that it hasn't spread. She just had surgery and is doing pretty good considering she's 77 and gone through a lot this past year. I'll be going over to help her when she comes out of the hospital. I realize I'm not the only person having to go through sad, bad, crappy times and most of the time I can handle times like that ... but today it all hit me like a brick wall and I decided it's okay for me to say I hate cancer.

So, to get my mind focused in the right direction to get ready to head on over to help mom I made these treasuries for her, my dad, my best friend Erna, my dear husband and for all of those who have lost the battle or won the battle against cancer. Pink in my world doesn't just stand for breast cancer, to me it represents any kind of cancer. It's okay to say you "hate cancer".

P.S.: both my Etsy shops are in "Vacation Mode" for the next couple of weeks. If all goes as planned I will re-open shop on March 19th. Thanks for understanding.